A Hardening Opinion of the Supreme Court

Slightly more than half of Americans have a favorable opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.

Relative to the legislative branch, the Supreme Court is actually pretty well-liked. (About 23% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Congress, according to a recent Pew poll.)

But the court’s popularity has been sagging, with its favorability rating hovering between 51% to 53% over the past year. Between 1987 and 2010, its rating never slipped below 57% and frequently hit 70 percent or higher.

More people think the Supreme Court is “middle of the road” than conservative or liberal, according to the survey. But 48% of those who identified as liberal Democrats, think of the high court of as conservative. And 45% of conservative Republicans view it as liberal.

Pew surveyed 1,501 adults between March 13 and 17.

Two percent of those surveyed “never heard” of the Supreme Court. That’s the highest percentage for that category since 2007, but within the margin of error.